


𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖

by cigarettesandsmoke



Category: The Blacklist (US TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, Kissing, Lizzington - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21722143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cigarettesandsmoke/pseuds/cigarettesandsmoke
Summary: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘛𝘰𝘮, 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘻 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘰𝘮’𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵.
Relationships: Elizabeth Keen/Raymond Reddington, Raymond Reddington/Elizabeth Keen
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳: 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵. 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴.

The Christmas decorations were up. The tree was placed nicely in the corner of Tom and Liz’s enchanting townhouse. They had both decided to have a ‘Secret Santa’ party where they would invite over the task force as well as Red and Dembe to play games with and enjoy themselves. Both Aram and Samar arrived within seconds of one another. In all honesty, Liz wasn’t one bit surprised that they arrived early. Aram always made it clear that he loved to get into the festive spirit, whilst Samar pretended not to be bothered by Christmas whatsoever, but in actual fact she thoroughly enjoyed it. Donald was the next to arrive, with the fluffiest scarf wrapped around his neck. Everyone laughed aloud at the sight of a live snowman in front of them. Harold came, not one second late, at exactly 17:00. They all sat down in the living room and made small talk until their final guests came. They heard a knock on the door at 17:10 so Liz got up to answer. She opened the door to reveal Red wearing a dashing tuxedo, whereas Dembe wore a Christmas sweater which said ‘Jingle My Bells’ on the front.

“Elizabeth! Don’t you look a true beauty?! This is for you.” Red said, handing her a very expensive bottle of champagne.

Liz was wearing: a cream knitted sweater, dark blue jeans and tanned brown small boots.

“Thank you. I’m glad you could make it...” She said, giving him an invitation to a hug, which he of course took. “And you too, Dembe.” She said, leaving Raymond to hug Dembe.

She led them into the living room before setting the champagne in the fridge to remain cold. The minute that everyone saw Dembe’s sweater they all couldn’t help but laugh.

“That is dedication, Dembe. If there was a ‘best dressed’ award, I think you’d win it.” Donald said and Dembe laughed.

“I sure hope I would, or else all of this would be for nothing.” Dembe laughed, gesturing to his ridiculous sweater.

Once they all had a drink in their hands, Liz suggested a game of ‘Truth or Dare’ which everyone of course agreed to. It was decided that they would all sit in a circle on the carpet and choose either ‘Truth’ or ‘Dare’ then spin the wheel on a mobile app and whichever category was chosen, the person who’s turn it was would have to do it. Aram went first.

“Truth or Dare, Aram?” Liz asked.

“Umm, I’ll go with a truth.” Aram stated, awaiting his embarrassment.

“Okay…” Liz said, as she spun the wheel. “Oh no… How many people have seen you naked?” She laughed and so did others as they awaited Aram’s response.

“Arghh. I mean, obviously my parents saw me when I was a baby… and maybe when I was older, I dunno. But, in terms of adulthood… umm, one person. And that one person was Dembe in the locker room.” He answered, laughing as he recalled the moment that he was so scared he accidentally dropped his towel.

“Damn, poor Dembe…” Liz joked. “Who’s next, Aram?” She asked.

“Dembe, please I need some revenge.” He said and everyone laughed.

“Alright. Dembe, truth or dare?” She asked.

“Since Aram went with truth I will too.” He stated and Liz nodded before spinning the wheel.

“What is the sexiest item of clothing you own?” She asked, laughing at how stupid the question was.

“Oh lord…” Dembe said, shaking his head. “I mean, my underwear are standard, but probably them.” He stated simply.

“Mhm, I bet you’ve got something hidden away…” Liz joked, making Dembe laugh and shake his head. “So, who would you like to choose?” She asked.

“Umm, Tom.” He said, looking around.

“Alright. Truth or dare, Tom?” She asked her love.

“After all that, I’ll take a dare.” He said, feeling confident.

Liz spun the wheel and it landed on the worst one possible, or at least to her it was. She wished that she could spin the wheel again, but she couldn’t.

“…with the person to your right: get a shot of tequila ready, place salt on their neck, lick the salt from their neck, take the shot of tequila and suck on a lime.” Liz stated, feeling somewhat nauseous.

It started off as fun and games, but now it was going too far. Samar was to Tom’s right and Liz sure as hell didn’t want her husband licking another woman’s neck, especially not in her presence.

“Alrighty then.” Tom said, getting up to get everything.

Samar moved her hair to the side so that Tom would be able to put the salt on her neck. He placed the tequila shot and lime onto the coffee table so that they were at reach. He leaned in and licked all the way up Samar’s neck, before kissing and sucking at every last grain of salt. Liz had to try her hardest to not stare daggers at them both, especially since they both seemed to be enjoy it. Samar nearly let out a giggle for God’s sake! Tom averted his attention away from Samar’s neck and took his shot of tequila before sucking on the lime. Everyone wasn’t nearly as flabbergasted as Liz was – apart from Red. He was infuriated that Tom would do such an immoral thing. And if that wasn’t bad, he looked at Liz straight after as though he had done nothing wrong.

“I choose Reddington.” Tom said, taking Liz out of her deep stare.

“…right. Truth or dare, Red?” She asked, trying to keep herself together.

“I’ll even the score out. Dare.” He smiled and Liz spinned the wheel.

‘Oh God!’ She thought to herself. The dares were way worse than the truths were. They just screamed collage dorm room vibes.

“Since the closet is no where near big enough to fit two people in, the bedroom will be acting as the closet. Please be considerate, Red. Spend seven minutes in heaven with the person of your choosing.” She said, feeling even more nauseous at the thought of what Raymond would do with someone in her bedroom.

“Seven minutes in heaven, hmm?...” Red smiled. “Lizzie! I’ll take you, if you would be so kind as to join me.” He offered.

Everyone looked shocked – apart from Tom. He looked angry and wanted to swipe Raymond’s grin from his face. How dare he take his wife?!

“Well, it’s not like I have a choice.” Liz said, despite knowing that Red was offering.

~

They both made their way into Liz and Tom’s bedroom. Once inside, Liz sat at the bottom of the bed straight away. Whereas, Raymond locked the door behind him and joined Liz. Despite being locked away, they could both still hear all of the Christmas anthems playing over their loud thoughts.

“I’m not sure what you were expecting, Reddington. But you know for a fact that I’m married.” Liz stated, making it clear that she wouldn’t be participating in sexual activities.

“You should know by now that I would never force you to do anything against your will. Besides, I only brought you in here so that you wouldn’t have to put on a face out there.” He said, turning to face her.

“What do you mean ‘a face’? I’m happy.” She lied.

“Your angry, angry at what Tom did out there. And it’s okay to be, I would be angry too, Lizzie. You don’t have to hide it from me. Let it all out, we’ve still got… six and a half minutes in here.” Raymond joked, trying to lighten the mood. Which worked, judging by Liz’s slight smile.

“You do realize that we’re going to get strange looks when we walk out of here right? It’s not going to seem like we’ve had a… therapy session of sorts.” She stated and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Appearances can be deceiving, Lizzie. Tell me how you are feeling, let it all out.” He told her and she could feel herself ready to open up.

“I-I feel like shit. I feel absolutely worthless. It still wouldn’t have felt right, but he could have at least looked over to me and asked for my permission. He didn’t even ask Samar, she could have been highly uncomfortable; but he didn’t care. I-I just feel like after tonight, he doesn’t even love me…” she stated, beginning to cry.

Raymond moved himself all up to the head of the bed and gestured for her to join him. He laid all the way down and invited her into his arms. She laid on her side with a hand draped across his stomach and her head on his chest.

“I feel like he deliberately did it to spite me. And if he didn’t intend to, he still did. I mean, I’m laid here crying on the ‘Concierge of Crime’. I don’t think it gets much worse than this.” She laughed and Red smiled.

“Oh come on, ‘worse’ don’t even lie to yourself. I’m like a human teddy bear.” He joked and she laughed.

“Oh you’re gonna regret that, ReddyBear.” She laughed and he tried to look offended but smirked.

“ReddyBear? I’ve heard a lot of nicknames, but ‘ReddyBear’? Well, that’s a new one.” He chuckled.

“It can be our secret one. And to answer your question… yes, you are like a human teddy bear… just with a tuxedo.” She joked.

“Too much? I asked Dembe his opinion but he said I looked fine. And in all honesty, I was not going to wear an itchy sweater with a dirty quote on it. You and I both know that if I did, Donald wouldn’t drop it.” He laughed, as did she.

“Don, would have your life for sure. Too much? Yes, but you rock it...” She giggled and he chuckled.

They both looked one another in the eye. Red reached up to cup her cheek, but he decided against it. They were both enjoying their moment and Red didn’t want to ruin it. He needed some more intimate contact, so the first thing that popped into his head was for him to gently swipe the mascara which had ran down Liz’s face from her tears. She looked into his eyes and could see that he was feeling touch starved. Although he had an arm wrapped around her waist and was practically caressing her face.

However, Liz was feeling bold. She was so sick of her life with Tom and she had always longed for the kiss of another. She leaned in and placed a kiss atop Red’s lips. She couldn’t believe how smooth they felt. Red was shocked at first, but he eventually gave in and kissed her back. He moved his hand so that it perfectly cupped her cheek. They both deepened the kiss until they were both finding themselves out of breath. Red pushed Liz into his side so that the leg which was draped over his nudged at his increasing bulge. He let out a guttural grown as he backed away from Liz’s kiss.

“I wish I was you.” He chuckled, tensing his legs.

“Why?” She asked, truly puzzled.

“Because I wouldn’t have to get rid of this…” gesturing to his bulge. “In a matter of minutes.” He laughed and so did she.

“I think I’d rather have that then feel like I’m swimming.” She joked and he couldn’t help but smirk.

“Hmm… so the feeling is mutual?” He asked, moving his face so that it was near inches from hers.

“I thought you were supposed to be calming down?” She whispered, before receiving one last gentle kiss.

“I can’t resist you, Lizzie. I think you already know that.” He smiled, before going back to his original position.

The both of them laid there for a small while, knowing that in the space of minutes they would have to go back out there and put on a fake face to prevent people from knowing the truth.

“I know I don’t say it often, Red. But, thank you. For everything. We’ve both hurt one another in ways unimaginable in the past, but in the end we both come back to one another. When I’m not with you or on good terms with you I don’t feel myself. When you inserted yourself into my life I felt so overwhelmed and as though my life was falling apart. I still feel overwhelmed to this day because of you. But in actual fact, you’ve made me realize that you’re the part of me I’ve been missing all of these years.” She said, a tear falling from her right eye.

She tried to catch it but couldn’t, it had already landed on Red’s bright white shirt and left a wet mark. She went to open her mouth to apologize but he prevented her from doing so by placing a finger over her mouth to mimic a shushing action.

“Don’t speak, Lizzie. I don’t want to fight with you anymore. The years I’ve looked over you there have been multiple moments that I could have met you. In a: coffee shop, bar, nightclub, even the DMV. But me being the: boastful, arrogant man that I am, I chose what would be the impossible situation to many others. I just want you to be happy, Lizzie. I never knew the way that I made you feel. I don’t want you to ever feel overwhelmed because of me and my title. Ever.” Raymond said as he caressed the small of her back with his right arm and brushed his left hand over her right one, which was placed on his chest.

“You don’t just make me feel overwhelmed because of who you are and what you can do. I feel overwhelmed because I constantly feel like I’m battling with my emotions. I love Tom, don’t get me wrong, but I always feel like I’m missing something. And whenever I’m with you, I don’t. I know who I am to Tom, but to you I have no idea. I don’t know what way you think of me as and all I want to do is find out some days. I want to know why you’ll be intimate, like this, with me… but you’ll never take it further. Apart from today of course.” She laughed nervously as she looked at his conflicted face.

“I-I… I’m this way, with you. B-because… because what I feel for you, I’ve never felt for anyone else. The truth… is that I’m scared, scared that if I’ll go any further with you, you’ll hate me for it. And I’m so tired of the fighting, Lizzie. I just want you and I to be happy with one another. So whatever you’ve needed me to be, I’ve been.” He said, trying his hardest to open up to her.

Lizzie couldn’t believe it, Red had a fear and that fear was losing her. She couldn’t believe that he was scared of losing her, that he just wanted to be happy and has been there for her and helped her to become it.

“What about now. Who are you now?” She asked, wondering if he was just another act.

“Now? Now I’m being who I am inside, Lizzie.” He smiled sincerely and she couldn’t help but cuddle him tightly.

“Thank you, Raymond.” She thanked, hugging into him.

“You’re welcome, Lizzie.” He said simply, hugging her back.

They both stayed there for a small while embracing one another. He remained caressing her back gently and managed to kiss her atop her forehead.

“Your seven minutes is up, you two.” They both heard Harold call from the other side of the door.

“Thank you, Cooper.” Liz called out.

The both of them got up after a few seconds. Despite them both wanting the intimacy to last, they knew that they couldn’t. They had a party to attend to and Liz had a jealous spouse to see to.

“Remember, I’m always here for you, Lizzie. All you have to do is ask.” Raymond stated before opening the door and closing it, making his way back to the party.

Liz was so happy that he closed the door behind him, at least that way she was able to have her own privacy as she fixed her makeup and regained her strength to go back out. ‘Just a little while longer’ she thought, then she’d be free to sleep and stop worrying.

To be continued...


	2. II

Once everyone was back into the living room they had a few more drinks and made small chatter amongst themselves. Tom, of course didn’t accept whatever it was that Liz had done with Red. He didn’t know what exactly they had done, but it was ‘Seven Minutes In Heaven’ after all. If that didn’t scream ‘Sex!!!’ He didn’t know what did.

“Is everyone up for secret Santa?” Liz asked, gaining the room’s attention.

“Of course, Liz.” Donald replied.

They all took their seats in a circle again, just like the did last time. Everyone got their gifts ready to give to their partner. Harold went first and gave Tom a pair of underwear with Liz’s face all over them.

“How did you even get my face?!” Liz laughed, looking at Tom’s new boxers which were held up for display.

“I can get anything I want, Keen.” Copper laughed, looking at Tom’s awestruck face.

Next up was Tom, who had Aram for the secret Santa. He passed along the gift to Aram and once it was opened he laughed straight away. It was a mug which said ‘I promise, I don’t cry myself to sleep… well, sorta.’ Aram showed it off to the rest of the group and couldn’t contain his laughter.

“I don’t know where you found this… but thank you.” He chuckled as did Tom.

Next up on the list was Aram, whom had Harold. He passed over the gift and Cooper opened it. It was a black t-shirt with white print, which said ‘Hardest part of my job = being nice to f*cking idiots.’ Everyone began to laugh as he put it on over his shirt.

“I love it, Aram. You couldn’t have gotten it more accurate.” He laughed.

Next up was Dembe, who had Donald. He passed over his gift and apologized in advance for what was to come. Once the gift was opened Ressler could see that Dembe had a grin. It was an FBI badge which said, ‘Agent. Small Dick’.

“I could understand it coming from Reddington, but come on, Dembe.” Donald laughed.

“In my defense, Raymond has been harassing me for weeks, telling me that if I had you I had to get that.” Dembe stated, whilst Raymond laughed aloud in the background.

Next up was Donald, who had Reddington. He now wished that he had bought something even worse than what he did. He passed over his gift which was a t-shirt which said ‘Grumpy Old Man’ on the front of it. Liz couldn’t help but laugh at it.

“Thank you for this tremendous gift, Donald. All though, I doubt you’ll see me wearing it. Unless you pop by my latest safe house late at night.” He chucked and Ressler couldn’t help but smile.

Next up on the list was Raymond, whom by pure luck had Liz. And oh boy, was he glad. He passed over his gift and awaited Liz’z reaction, patiently. When Liz opened up the small box she gasped at the sight of three beautiful diamond necklaces. The first was the longest and the diamonds made up a crescent moon. The second had two circles overlapping one another and in the middle it had a star. The last one was the smallest and had diamonds placed to make the earth.

“Raymond, this is… far too much.” She said, looking up to see that he had a wide smile on his face.

“Last I checked, we had a budget.” Donald stated and received a scoffing laugh from Red.

“When have I ever followed the rules, Donald?...” he smirked. “The necklaces symbolize our time on the run. The first shows the type of moon we had that night in the shipping container. The seconds is of Polaris and the the third is the earth… more importantly, Spain and America. Which of course symbolize that lovely little stunt we pulled when traveling over seas.” He explained and Liz couldn’t help but begin to tear up.

“Awww, Red...” She cried as she made her way over to him and gave him a huge hug. “Thank you so much.” She said, her tears now dropping onto his suit jacket.

“You don’t have to thank me, Lizzie.” He whispered, as he rubbed up and down her back.

They both stayed in their own little reverie but eventually came back to reality when they heard someone clear their throat. No doubt it was Tom. Everyone else gave their gifts to one another. There were a few other jokes which everyone laughed at. But nothing would ever top Red’s gift, Liz knew that for sure. She couldn’t believe the amount of thought he had put into it and had no doubt had them custom made.

~

A few hours later, once they had a few little bites to eat and drink people began leaving. The only people left in the end were: Tom, Liz, Red and Dembe.

“I’m gonna go and turn in, babe.” Tom said, giving Liz a kiss on the lips before making his way into the bedroom.

“I’ll go and get the car warmed up, Raymond.” Dembe said, leaving Red and Liz on their own.

The both of them stared down at the bowls and glasses which were needed to be cleared. Liz sighed at the thought of doing it by herself while her husband was sound asleep.

“I’ll give you a hand with clearing everything up, Lizzie. The car normally takes a while to heat up.” He stated.

Liz was going to object, but she would be lying if she was to say that she didn’t want some company.

“Thank you, Red.” She said.

They both stood up and Raymond began to move every: glass, bowl and plate into the kitchen whilst Liz rinsed then under the sink and placed them onto the countertop as they awaited the dishwasher. Once Red had passed everything through to the kitchen he decided to begin loading the dishwasher for her.

“So, what are you and Dembe doing for Christmas?” She asked as she continued to rinse the bowls out with water.

“Dembe will be spending time with his family. What about you, what are you doing?” He asked, trying to deflect from what she would inevitably ask in advance.

“So what are you doing? And don’t even ask me a question to deflect.” She ordered with a smirk on her face.

“I’ll be spending Christmas on my own, Lizzie… now, back to my question, what are yo-” he tried to finish his sentence but she didn’t allow him and interjected instead.

“Alone?! Can’t you go with Dembe?” She asked in disbelief.

“I can. But I wouldn’t wish to impose on him and his family’s time together.” He said, taking the bowl from her hand and loading it into the dishwasher.

“He wouldn’t be bothered by it and you know it. Would you like to spend Christmas with Tom and I?” She asked.

“Thank you, Lizzie. But no thank you. I won’t ruin Tom and yours time with my presence. Christmas is a time for family. Enjoy it.” He smiled, grabbing a dishwasher tablet from the cupboard, inserting it and closing the dishwasher before turning it on.

He went to grab his Fedora from the kitchen countertop and leave but Liz only grabbed his forearm and pulled him back.

“I don’t want you to be by yourself, Raymond.” She said, concerned about him.

“I don’t have a family, Lizzie. You do, Dembe does. I’m perfectly happy being at home in my own little isolated area.” He smiled.

“Family doesn’t have to be by blood, Red. To me, you are family. Please, Raymond. Don’t be alone.” Liz begged.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, took a hand and tilted her jaw up. He kissed her lips gently and passionately. Liz could feel a moan coming on so she had to try her hardest not to. Just in case Tom could hear them from the other room. He backed away from Liz and smiled.

“I’ll always have you in here…” He smiled as he placed a hand over his heart. “Merry Christmas, Lizzie.” He whispered as he gave her a kiss on her cheek.

He left her apartment and made his way down to Dembe whom was sat waiting in the warmed up car. He took his usual seat in the back of the car and Dembe drove back to the apartment in Bethesda.

“Are you sure you won’t join us this Christmas, Raymond. Isabella and Elle haven’t seen you in so long, I’m sure they’re missing your many stories.” Dembe chuckled as he parked the car over and the both of them got out.

“Are you sure I wouldn’t be intruding, Dembe? I don’t want to ruin your time with the girls?” Raymond asked, not wishing to hurt one of the few times Dembe gets to spend time with his family.

“Of course not, Raymond. They love you. Join us.” Dembe offered.

“Alright, brother. I’ll join you.” Raymond smiled.

Dembe automatically gave him a brotherly hug before the both of them made their way into the apartment. Raymond couldn’t help but feel a sense of happiness that he wasn’t used to. It was going to be his first Christmas in many years where he wouldn’t be by himself – and Dembe’s cat. He wished that he could spend it with Liz. But that was a battle for another day. Hopefully one day he could best Tom. And she would come to him instead of Keen.

// the end. //

**Author's Note:**

> 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 :)


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